Chef Anne's Tips on Seared Scallops

Yield 4 appetizer servings (the appropriate portion size for a 3-course meal).

Ingredients

12 scallops

grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil with a high-smoking point

kosher salt and fresh black pepper

2 tablespoons of butter, room temperature

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 cloves of garlic smashed

I’ve cooked thousands of scallops over the years, (not an exaggeration!) starting as a line cook in a busy French restaurant in Chicago years go. Scallops are a crowd-pleaser, the perfect seafood for a decadent special-occasion dinner.

I’ve read and watched a variety of techniques and recipes for cooking scallops, but I prefer the way I was taught best, years ago while cooking on a hectic kitchen line. This method leaves scallops beautifully golden brown on top, and medium rare at the center. For this preparation, I’m serving them as a starter course with sweet corn “milk” and pistachio pesto. But the flavor combinations are endless.

This looks like a lot of steps but don’t worry! Follow these instructions and your guests will think you’ve cooked thousands of scallops too!

Method

Take scallops out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking, to bring up the internal temperature of the meat and promote even cooking. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400°F.

Pat the scallops dry with paper towel to remove extra moisture. Season each scallop lightly with salt & pepper on both flat sides.

Take a large sauté pan and place it on high heat for 1-2 minutes, until pan is smoking hot. Swirl in 2 tablespoons of oil grapeseed (canola or safflower seed oil are all great, but do not use olive oil because of its low smoking point).

Place the scallops facedown in the sauté pan quickly but do not over-crowd pan. If needed, use 2 separate pans so each scallop has plenty of room to brown. Overcrowding the pan will reduce the temperature, creating too much moisture, which will lead to steaming, as opposed to the browning you are aiming for.  

Now the most important instruction – do not touch them!!! Wait about 3 minutes. You may peek from time to time for the desired brownness but do not flip or move scallops around.

When a nice brown color starts to form, place the entire sautéed pan directly in the oven, keeping scallops brown-side down.

After about 3 minutes, check scallops for desired doneness, they should be firm but slightly wobbly to the touch.

Now take the pan out of the oven and place it on the stove with the burner off (remember to use a dry dish towel or hot pad to handle the pan). Here’s the fun part…quickly turn the scallops over. The direct heat from the pan will continue to cook the scallops a little bit more. Toss in your pad of butter, smashed garlic and thyme sprigs. As the butter melts, and infuses with the garlic and thyme, spoon it over each scallop to baste. If you are not eating dairy, a little olive oil is a fine replacement for this finishing element.

Serve immediately!